The Mets Can Take First Place by the All-Star Break

The All-Star break is one of those artificial deadlines that allows everyone to take a deep breath, a step back, and a 10,000-feet-up look at where their team stands. The Mets can make the three-day break rather fantastic if they can get hot this weekend against the Braves at Citi Field; they can vault themselves into first place. (They're now tied with the Rockies and Dodgers for the wild-card lead, by the way.) The world's a little tighter after the break, every game feels like it means a little more, and now that the Yankees are kicking Cliff Lee's tires, that's less of an option for the Mets. The Mets can be tied for first at the break, or six games out. It's been a surprising first half for the Mets. This could be a finishing kick to make it sublime.